Conflict between saudi arabia and iran is not really about religion, but is rather it is driven by a cold war struggle between iran and saudi arabia. Pdf on jun 30, 2017, ana soage and others published what is really. Idrees mohamed ali is first secretary at the permanent mission of sudan. Saudi arabia is the birthplace of islam, and to its holy city of mecca where billion faithful turn five times a day for their prayers. Maneuvering the saudiiranian rivalry in the middle east jstor. In relation to the iransaudi arabia conflict, however, the oic openly backed riyadh, which deepened intersectarian rifts within the. In recent days, news of saudi arabias execution of the shia leader nimr alnimr, and the diplomatic clashes with iran that followed. Schwanitz revolutions are bittersweet moments in history that change a society mostly by bloodshed. The us is deliberately fuelling the conflict between saudi arabia and iran, daily sabah argues. Jordan, september 2006 3 ali al hashimi 18531931, the grand sharif and emir of mecca and hereditary custodian of the muslim holy places, and by his two sons, abdullah 18821951 and faisal 18851933.
Our ideology rejects monarchy and alliance with the nonmuslim governmentsnations that are oppressive or impose their will, policies or culture on usmuslims. University of houston law center summer mini session course. How saudi arabia and irans rivalry fueled conflicts in. Pdf what is really behind the saudiiranian cold war. More importantly, the region has been the major potential source of incremental supplies since. On august 26, 20, secretary of state john kerry called the recent use of chemical weapons outside of damascus undeniable and a moral obscenity. The two countries have provided varying degrees of support to opposing sides in nearby conflicts, including the civil wars in syria, yemen, and iraq. In the background of these three middle east conflicts is a geopolitical rivalry between shiamajority iran and its sunnimajority neighbor, saudi arabia. In the iransaudi arabia conflict, a clash of civilizations the cold war between the two regional powers is likely to heat up, reviving an ageold sectarian war between sunni and shiite islam in. By kim salmutter course islam and politics in a changing. He further lists a whole host of allegations against iran calling it the single most belligerent actor in the. The director of national intelligence recently stated that iran is now more willing to conduct an attack in the united states. Still, attributing the iransaudi arabia conflict simply to sectarian tensions focuses on a narrow aspect of the conflict, ignoring the bigger issue. For years, this rivalry has inflamed violence in areas already torn by war and created new.
Ivan karyakin, an investment analyst at global fx, points out that the area of possible conflict pumps a third of global oil. The iransaudi arabia proxy conflict, sometimes also referred to as the iransaudi arabia cold war, middle east cold war or middle east conflict, is the ongoing struggle for influence in the middle east and surrounding regions between the islamic republic of iran and the kingdom of saudi arabia. We know that yemen is important for saudi arabia, and we never want to stab saudi arabia in the back, zarif, irans foreign minister, said. I think that iran, saudi arabia, qatar and any of the opec members will do well in trying and keep the production going because the difficult situation of all these countries was dire twelve months ago and it has only started to repair over a quarter of the year, the expert added.
How oman is becoming a sort of middle eastern switzerland. The move prompts protests or condemnation from shiites in iran, iraq, bahrain, turkey, pakistan, india, lebanon, and yemen. Introduction the middle east holds a very iarge proportion of the worlds proven oil reserves. Even if one recognizes the iraniansaudi conflict predated the iran nuclear deal, it is hard to argue. As a result, the tensions reach further than the oil or economic sphere, and become geographical. Iran and saudi arabia indicates either severe ignorance or. As saudiiran tensions increase, the lived experiences and leadership styles of the 78yearold iranian. Behind the iransaudi arabia conflict liberation news. The recent attack on saudi oil tanker, series of drone and missile attacks targeting the arabian military and the kingdom of gulfs direct accusation of iran s involvement in it may trigger a war between the two neighbouring countries iran and saudi arabia. The roots of nigerias religious and ethnic conflict the. If there was a conflict between saudi arabia and iran, however, thaker said it would be the most dangerous times for the middle east and the world. European sympathies lean toward iran in conflict with. But now the whole debate has shifted towards the relationship between iran and saudi arabia, instead of solving the crisis inside syria.
A view from iran on heightened conflict with saudi arabia. The kingdom of saudi arabia, occupies the majority of the arabian peninsula. Saudi arabia witnessed, with great concern, irans ability to impose its influence in iraq thanks to the american occupation in 2003, and then in. One killed and 11 wounded in houthi missile attack on saudi. How to merge git branch to master and handle merge conflicts. Nov 30, 2017 a fastforward merge occurs here because while we were adding a new feature, the master branch remained the same and havent had any new commits. The organization of islamic cooperation oicwhich represents the entirety of the muslim worldhas traditionally observed a strict policy of neutrality, preferring to resort to closeddoor diplomacy regarding disagreements among its member states. Saudi arabia has not officially given notice of this ban, but iran has blamed part of its difficulty selling oil on this message being spread by ship brokers and traders. The breach in diplomatic relations between iran and saudi arabia is a dangerous watershed in an already unstable, war torn region. In the north a strip 400 miles 650 km long bordering the caspian sea and never more than 70 miles 115. Apr 05, 2016 by avi melamed we must put aside the concept of an israelipalestinian agreement in favor of an israeliarab agreement as the only realistic means to end the israelipalestinian conflict.
The gulf cooperation council was created as a response to iran s islamic revolution, which stirred unrest across the middle east, particularly among the regions shiite population. The obama administration, whose negotiations with iran on a nuclear deal had rattled saudi arabia, backed the coalition, selling weapons, and providing assistance with refueling and targeting. The conflict between saudi arabia and iran, while historical and religious in origin, has evolved into a geopolitical competition. Apr 09, 2016 its said in a certain branch of physical anthropology that humans are divided into four groups of peoples. Saudi arabia executes sheikh nimr al nimr, a prominent shiite leader who supported antigovernment demonstrations, along with 46 others for alleged terrorrelated offenses. As a result, saudi arabia severed diplomatic ties with iran. The aim of this chapter is to explore the underlying causes of the largest category of middle eastern wars, namely, the arabisraeli wars. Saudi arabia and the united arab emirates uae plus iraq and iran. The us and iran are still perilously close to conflict the guardian may 2, 2020 afghanistan investigating claims migrants were killed by iranian guards ny times may 2, 2020 threat to blow up besieged iran embassy archive, 1980 the guardian may 1, 2020. The same tension explains why saudi arabia helped bahrain, an oilrich, majorityshiite country ruled by a sunni monarchy, crush its version of the arab spring in 2011. Apr 23, 2015 yemen has been embroiled in conflict for almost a century, with divisions between the countrys north and south stemming as far back as 1918.
The gulf arabs saudi arabia, kuwait, bahrain, qatar, the united arab emirates and oman started a strategic partnership the gulf cooperation council gcc in 1981 ibidem. What are the cultural similarities and differences between. The following is a timeline of iransaudi relations since the 1979 revolution. Its a rivalry thats helped prolong and deepen the strife, as both nations have infused weapons, money and proxy forces into conflicts that have exacerbated sectarian tensions in the region. Contrasting leadership styles in the saudiiran conflict. In these situations, early action, driven or supported by the eu and its member states, would generate stronger prospects for peace. Northern yemen was established as a republic in 1970, after years of civil war between royalists and republicans, with the first supported by saudi arabia and the latter by egypt. Library of congress federal research division country profile. Keeping iran and saudi arabia from war foreign affairs.
Iran has a large population and a long history of nationhood, while saudi arabia holds significant oil reserves and is custodian of islams holiest sites before the 1979 iranian revolution, relations between iran and saudi arabia proceeded without major incident. As the conflict defies easy categorization, it is inadequately portrayed, particularly in western media, in a reductionist fashion, as a mere sunnishia proxy war wielded by the regional powers of iran who backs ansarullah and saudi arabia who counters iranian meddling in its yemeni backyard. As a range of conflicts befall most of the countries in the middle east and north africa mena, the saudiiranian rivalry has found its. University of houston law center summer mini session the.
Saudiiranian tensions economic effects and political. Countrylevel wheat gvc case studies for egypt, syria, iran, saudi arabia and united arab emirates comparative analysis of food security strategies in selected countries, with a focus on trade, offshoring and selfsufficiency schemes this research is supported by the minerva program, u. Saudi arabias involvement clearly lies in its interest in keeping the yemeni allied government in power for these reasons while iran saw the weak state as an opportunity to gain advantage over saudi arabia in yet another conflict and used its shia ties to the revolutionaries to gain access. This con stant tension over the past few years between saudi arabia and iran, their constant struggle for leadership not only in the region, but also for dominance in the arab world. The qatif conflict refers to the modern phase of sectarian tensions and violence in eastern arabia between arab shia muslims and arab sunni majority, which has ruled saudi arabia since early 20th century. Any serious crisis in iran could jeopardize the clergys favored position in government. Wheat value chains and food security in the mena region. As the word indicates, there is something like a rotation involved. Mar 10, 2014 modern nigeria emerged through the merging of two british colonial territories in 1914. Conflicts in the middle east, whether in iraq, lebanon, syria, or yemen, share a common factor. It has many levels but at its root it is our ideology contra their realpolitik. Nov 09, 2017 saudi arabia accused iran on tuesday of an act of war over the incident.
It is highly useful for determining what has changed between file versions, and then merging those changes. The security dilemma in saudiiranian relations mohamed. Rivalry between iran and saudi arabia will continue to be fought mainly by proxy. The conflict between iran and saudi arabia is routinely explained away as a sectarian rift, but this. The escalating proxy war between the majoritysunni muslim kingdom of saudi arabia and iran, the home of shiite islam, is having repercussions across the middle east. Oct 29, 2015 the best hope for syrias survival is a political solutionjointly brokered by the u. Why is there conflict between saudi arabia and iran. A wicked problem for all combating terrorism center. The conflicts toll exhausted irans zeal for sowing revolution abroad, but gave it a new mission. How isis spread in syria and iraqand how to stop it the. Most of the country is above 1,500 feet 460 metres, with onesixth of it over 6,500 feet 1,980 metres. How the iraniansaudi proxy struggle tore apart the middle. Should escalating tensions between bitter regional rivals iran and saudi arabia break out into open conflict, riyadhs formidable military. A series of massive, heavily eroded mountain ranges surrounds irans high interior basin.
Nov 06, 2019 2009 january saudi, yemeni alqaeda branches merge to form alqaeda in the arabian peninsula aqap. Saudi arabia, iraq, iran, the united arab emirates, kuwait, oman, and qatar together produce about 28 million barrels per day, which is slightly less than 30 percent of global production. Why saudi arabia is hammering yemen the national interest. The conflict between iran and america 2005, recycled many of the same lies, this time directed at iran. In sharp contrast are the coastal regions outside the mountain ring.
Until the late 1960s iran and saudi arabia had a similar conflict over the two small islands of. The following paper argues that conflict between saudi arabia and iran does reflect their divergent religious beliefs, but above all, it is a case of converging power struggles and strategic geopolitical interests. In iran, protestors burn part of the saudi embassy. By the year 2011 saudi arabia was an iranian target as a result of the kingdoms support of the government of bahrain. It is one of the very important concepts in the field of international relations because it can explain conflict and war. The conflict between iran and saudi arabia is fueling some of the regions most intractable conflicts. Only 6 percent of trade is conducted within the region, guaranteeing perpetual conflict as history teaches that peace relies upon economic interdependency. Abdullah alshammari is vice consul of saudi arabia. Following saudi airstrikes in yemen during late march, the iransaudi cyber conflict. In the iransaudi arabia conflict, a clash of civilizations. It was only after the fsa proved unable to defeat assad and its fighters started joining more radical islamist.
Cyber warfare is an increasingly prominent aspect of the iraniansaudi hegemonic rivalry in the middle east. Us warns airliners flying in persian gulf of danger amid iran. Iran enters the qatarsaudi conflict as war draws near. London in the days since saudi arabia inflamed tensions with iran by executing 47 people, including a shiite cleric, european observers have been quick to. Oct 05, 2010 since 1979, irans theocratic regime has deprived the entire clerical class of its autonomybut also made it rich and powerful.
The iran saudi arabia proxy conflict, sometimes also referred to as the middle eastern cold war is the ongoing struggle for influence in the middle east and surrounding regions between the islamic republic of iran and the kingdom of saudi arabia. Iran and saudi arabia move beyond proxy conflict middle. But the conflict is the result of twoandahalf years of suffering, martinez added. Whats behind the feud between saudi arabia and iran. And iran oman plays an important role in trying to bridge relations between the u. Saudi arabia, a majority sunni muslim country and iran, a majority shia muslim country, have been in major geopolitical conflict which has intensified since the iranian revolution in 2011 and irans support for syria during the syrian civil war. Saudi arabia directly blamed iran for the drone assault, and a local newspaper linked to the al saud royal family called on thursday for america to launch surgical strikes on tehran.
Tackling the mena regions intersecting conflicts crisis group. Wars which are not directly related to the arabisraeli conflict, like the yemen war of 196164 and the iran iraq war of 198088, lie outside the scope of this chapter. The amalgamation was an act of colonial convenience. Saudi arabiairan conflict will crush oil prices further. Culture of iran history, people, clothing, traditions.
Trump veers off course with iran threats consortiumnews. A brief breakdown of the current saudi vs iran conflict. Saudi arabia bombs yemen, launches coalition op against houthi rebels. The security dilemma in saudi iranian relations mohamed bin huwaidin1 introduction the concept of security dilemma emerged as early as the 1950s with the writings of john herz, herbert butterfield, and robert jervis. See saudi mufti warns against joining jihad abroad. Crisis groups earlywarning watch list identifies up to ten countries and regions at risk of conflict or escalation of violence. Saudi crown prince mohammad bin salman mbs is steadily consolidating power in riyadh and positioning himself to become the most powerful ruler in saudi history.
The ongoing conflict between saudi arabia and iran will become even more unpredictable in the coming months, experts have warned. The possibility of direct or indirect violent conflict between u. When iran had a revolution in 1979, saudi arabia felt severely threatened. Since the beginning of civilization, the middle east has been the hotbed of ongoing conflict. Iran, saudi arabia war readiness compared washington times. Take a look back at the key events that have occurred.
So there is a linear path from branch tip to the branch tip. It includes a global overview, regional summaries, and detailed analysis on select countries and conflicts. Iran has a large population and a long history of nationhood, while saudi arabia holds significant oil reserves and is custodian of islams holiest sites before the 1979 iranian revolution, relations between iran and saudi arabia proceeded without major. The geopolitical struggle between saudi arabia and iran presents an increasingly complex. The iransaudi arabia conflict and its impact on the. Syrian subgroups merge to form new national army under turkey.
A realistic solution to the israelipalestinian conflict. Amidst of iransaudi arabia proxy conflict, iranian authorities blame saudi intelligence agency for supporting the unrest however saudi officials deny involvement. One workshop participant explained that the principal sources of. The islamic and the preislamic world have both provided national symbols for iran, and these have come in conflict in recent years. It occurred mainly because british colonizers desired a. Iran and saudi arabia are not directly fighting but they are engaged in a variety of proxy wars conflicts where they support rival sides and militias around the region. Apr 12, 2016 the saudi economy is treading water thanks to low oil prices, and while iran is facing similar challenges, the nuclear deal has given the iranians a boost in both revenue and credibility. The problem is, however, that fear of iran is clouding saudi arabias judgment. The iransaudi arabia proxy war the washington post.
The national army, syrias largest armed group since the breakout of the civil war in 2011, has reportedly formed under the guidance of turkey. Saudi arabia remains publicly neutral, but reportedly makes three of its. Windows visual diff and merge for files and directories. Pdf conflicts between iran and the gulf arab states. Saudi arabia, iran and the struggle to shape the middle east.
Winmerge is a windows tool for visual difference display and merging, for both files and directories. Saudi arabia and irans rivalry is key to the middle east in 2018 regional chaos is set to continue with no solution in sight to yemen crisis and power struggle over shape of postwar syria kareem. Saudi arabia intercepted a ballistic missile fired by yemens houthi rebels on wednesday, but shrapnel killed a yemeni man and wounded 11 others in the southern saudi city of jazan, the arab. His rise has been accompanied with a ratcheting up of hostilities against iran and even war rhetoric. List of active separatist movements in asia wikipedia. Mohammad reza pahlavi, the shah who was deposed in 1979, tried to make the twentyfivehundredyearold monarchy itself a central symbol of iranian life. The rupture has its roots in a strategic rivalry that stretches across the middle east, says bernard haykel, middle east expert at princeton university. Saudi arabia and irans exploitation of weakened political institutions will have serious effects on security, stability and economic growth in the region. It is to the point where one conflict is almost indistinguishable from another. The two countries have provided varying degrees of support to opposing sides in.
Iran escalates conflict with saudis in yemen on sunday, the iranianbacked houthis lobbed seven ballistic missiles at saudi arabian cities from yemenite soil. One map that explains the dangerous saudiiranian conflict. Managing the saudiiran rivalry council on foreign relations. Iran is not the root cause of the conflict in yemen, and bombing the. Eve burnett is a graduate student from the usa matankiso chachane is an admin assistant at the permanent mission of lesotho. The possibility of iranianqatari cooperation is something that irans sworn enemy saudi arabia takes very serious and indeed riyadh readily admits that qatars warming relations with iran are a proximate cause for the saudi led isolation of qatar. Middle east tensions rise as iran and saudi arabia jostle for. The current provocation between the kingdom of saudi arabia and the islamic republic of iran could potentially alter the. Iran and saudi arabia have not confronted each other militarily, but rather have. In november last year local authorities in crater aden and commanders from alhizam agreed to merge camp 20 with.